Episode 22
Forward! Forward!! is Round 22 of the anime adaptation of Morikawa Jouji's Hajime no Ippo series. Summary Despite Ippo being a better in-fighter, it is Hayami who dominates the fight by blocking all of Ippo's attempts and landing a high amount of punches. Takamura notes that it is because of the fight not going the way he wanted, that Ippo is not following his game plan properly. Hayami continues to overwhelm Ippo with a series of combinations until Ippo finally falls, marking the first down of the match. Ippo struggles to get up, but is unable. As the count reaches eight, Ippo remembers Ozuma and Kobashi, and finally stands to continue fighting. The exchange continues with Hayami seemingly dominate, but with more determination than ever, Ippo manages to graze Hayami a couple of times, which is enough to make him feel his power, and afraid, backs away. Despite not landing a proper hit, Ippo manages to push back Hayami, who at the advice of his coach, decides to use out-boxing, but upon hearing Kamogawa accusing him of being afraid, he jumps right in. Hayami increases the speed of his movements and begins outclassing Ippo, while Takamura, Aoki and Kimura, argue with Hayami's fans. Ippo utilises the strength gained at the training camp, and successfully backs Hayami against the ropes. Feeling the pressure, Hayami plans to uppercut when Ippo enters his range, anticipating this, Ippo is ready to throw his counter hook. As both fighters launch their moves, hoping to connect first, they land at the same time. After the simultaneous strikes, Hayami is still standing and now knows Ippo's strategy. Ippo realises that due to lingering damage, Hayami can not move, and attempts a combination, which fails since Hayami can still use his upper body. Ippo gets sent back to his original position and Hayami unleashes his shotgun, his special move. However, although fast, it is not strong enough as he does not have his lower body to hurt Ippo, who can now see clearly all hits which he avoids and deflects. Remembering Ozuma and Kobashi, Ippo gets closer to Hayami and lands a body blow on him. Hayami in pain, stops his movements surprising everyone. Despite being in pain, Hayami engages Ippo in an exchange that leaves the entire audience in awe, as the fight was supposed to be an easy win for Hayami. With less than twenty seconds left in the first round, the even exchange appears to slowly turn in favour of Ippo who begins to outclass Hayami with his punches. Using his last strength, Hayami attempts to land a punch on Ippo, but the latter catches him with a powerful uppercut that immediately sends him down. The referee, stops Ippo (who doesn't realise Hayami is down as he keeps punching and falls), and after inspecting Hayami, declares Ippo the winner, in what is the biggest upset of the tournament. Kimura and Aoki congratulate him (with the latter particularly happy, as he was Ippo's sparring partner). Hayami who awakes to find out he lost, insist that it is alright, and that his "legend" is just beginning. He claims his next match will be a fresh start.Category:Anime Episodes Category:Season 1 Episodes